FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram of telecommunications system 100 in the prior art. Telecommunications system 100 comprises telecommunications terminal 101, call server 102, local area network 103, internet protocol-based network 104, and web application server 105, interconnected as shown.
Telecommunications terminal 101 is capable of transmitting and receiving signals as part of a call on behalf of its user. It interacts with call server 102 to place outgoing calls and to receive incoming calls. Terminal 101 transmits via local area network 103 call-related traffic in packet format to one or more destinations, such as devices that are associated with Internet Protocol-based network 104. Terminal 101 also receives via local area network 103 call-related traffic in packet format from one or more sources, such as from devices that are associated with Internet Protocol-based network 104. Terminal 101 communicates by using the Internet Protocol set of rules and, as such, is an Internet Protocol-based telephone.
Terminal 101 is also capable of receiving and displaying Internet Protocol-based content, such as text and graphics, on a built-in display screen and by using a built-in browser. The user of terminal 101 uses the browser to request and display content, such as text and graphics, similarly to how a user of a personal computer uses the computer's browser (e.g., Internet Explorer™, Netscape Communicator™, etc.) to display content on the computer's screen. The user of terminal 101 requests the content by selecting objects on the display screen, which causes terminal 101 to transmit a request message to the source of the content, such as web application server 105. Subsequently, terminal 101 receives a message that contains the content, and the content is then displayed on the display screen.
The browser capability in terminal 101 is useful, in that it enables its user to navigate web applications, including information about the company, news, interactive applications (e.g., a conference room scheduler, etc.), company directory lookup, and so forth. It is the user who determines when to retrieve content; for example, if a call is in progress, the user will typically request content when the content will enhance the call or at a later time so as not to interfere with the call.
Some telecommunications terminals also have a rudimentary capability to receive content that is “pushed” to the terminals by applications that are external to the terminals. An advantage of a pushed application is that an external application can determine the content that is sent to the user without relying on the user requesting the content. A disadvantage is that content that has not been solicited by the terminal might contain unwanted elements (e.g., viruses, etc.) and, consequently, cannot be implicitly trusted.
What is needed is a technique to receive unsolicited content at a telecommunications terminal without some of the disadvantages of the prior art.